Bricklayer who left his mark on Laguna Beach hardscape, dies at 91

Tony Van Dyck immigrated to Laguna Beach from the farmlands of Canada in the late 1950s and literally left his mark all over town.

As a former member of the Canadian Corps of Engineers, Van Dyck used his masonry skills to launch his Laguna Canyon masonry business in 1960, creating brickwork across the city, from the whimsical “Crazy Quilt” brickwork on the Lumberyard building, Pottery Place, the Playa Post Office on Forest Avenue, and Peppertree Lane; to practical blockwork on the towers of the Surf & Sand Hotel, to Vacation Village (now Pacific Edge Hotel), to countless retaining walls along Coast Highway, beach access points and private homes.

Van Dyck, who was born July 8, 1929, and passed away at 91 years old on April 30 of this year, built a family home on three acres on Stan Oaks Drive for his wife and six children near his canyon studio called A.H. Dyck Masonry (later Dyck’s Masonry, then Van Dyck’s Masonry). They lived there for 14 years after which time Van Dyck closed his business and moved out of town. Besides his local masonry work, his brickwork graces countless Marie Callender’s restaurants, the massive fireplace at the Rusty Pelican in Newport Beach, the Wind & Sea Restaurant in Dana Point Harbor and more.

“He was a real work hard, play hard kind of guy,” said his youngest daughter, Ruth Savage, who lived in Laguna Beach from 1970 to 1984 and was living with her father in Salt Spring Island when he passed. “He was always looking for a new adventure or a technique for his work. He tried a lot of experimenting on our house in the canyon. The people who live there now don’t want to change a thing.”

One of the projects he was most proud of took place in the 1960s, when Van Dyck refaced Monument Point, the war memorial in Heisler Park.

“He wasn’t an American by birth but every year he would drag all the kids there and put on his green beret,” Savage said.

Savage has fond memories of living in Laguna Beach, from her “wondrous childhood spent exploring the canyon on Dad’s beloved horses, dirt bikes, and hikes; finding new friends on endless beach days at Crescent Cove; birthdays at Heisler Park; ice cream from Swenson’s; cheap treats and toys from Sprouse Reitz; sandwiches from Forest Avenue Market. My mom and dad could not have picked a better place to raise six kids. Laguna Beach will always be my home, will always hold my heart.”

Van Dyck’s sons also participated in laying bricks, Savage said, adding her brothers “claim dad made them do most of the work,” on Peppertree Lane. “He used to like to tell a story about the people there who paid him by handing him two grocery bags full of cash. And the lion’s head fountain on [a] wall that lived on our patio until it went up there – I remember sticking my hands in the mouth and wondering what water would look like coming out.”

After Van Dyck closed his business, he and his youngest daughter moved to Canada. “He had cancer (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and my siblings weren’t allowed across the border. I’m the youngest of six and it was just me and dad at the end there,” Savage said. “I’m looking forward to visiting Laguna Beach in August where my brother put a memorial picnic together for us all to be together.”

As his health deteriorated, Van Dyck often joked that he gave his knees to Laguna, Savage said.

“I would argue that he gave his heart,” she said. “It’s hard not to feel him there, whenever I walk down Forest Ave, on the very stones he laid.”